Weekend projects
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Joined: May 2008
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From: washington
Weekend projects
So I tackled some really simple projects this weekend and they ended up beign a pain in the ****. I only have 50K on my truck but with a big trip from TN to WA coming up in the next couple fo weeks and towing a 21ft boat back I wanted to make sure everything was pretty fresh. Below are the list of things I did and some tips to make everyone elses day a little smoother.
Transfer Case fluid change.
-Everything went really smooth on this one, I put in 2 quarts of Mobile 1 synthetic and of course it is Mercon V substitue. This project only took about an hour and most of the time was in draining and re-filling.
Fuel Filter Change.
-Should have only been a ten minute project but there were issues. I got the flex fuel filter because that's what my truck is; not the right filter though. I ended up getting the SOHC 5.4L filter and that was the right one. I also had to go back down to Autozone and pick up a 5/16 fuel line tool because the one I had bought previously was too big.
Transmission fluid Change:
-This should have been another easy one since all I was doing was dropping the pan, replacing the filter, cleaning the magnet, removing the cherry, and re-filling. I do not have the drain or fill plug on mine which was a surprise since my owners manual said that I would have one (kind of a pain when checking fluid levels). The pain drain and filter change went really well. I added 3 quarts through the dip stick hole, and checked (no sign of cherry juice). Added another quart and no sign, the 5th one showed a little cherry juice on the bottom of the stick so I added a little less than half another quart. We are up to 5.5 quarts now. Everytime that I checked I would run the truck whiel checking to make sure that the fluid was staying warm. I went for a drive this afternoon and the truck started shaking so I knew something was wrong. I checked the levels at the pizza place and it was waaaaay over the high mark.
I drove home, cracked the pan and eventually got the fluid levels back down in the hash marks of the stick. Took it for a test drive and everything seems to be back to normal..
What a pain and it always amazes me home I can seem to screw up the simple stuff and yet complex things like a lift kit or ball joints seem to go pretty swimmingly. Please use these notes when attempting these projects in the future.
Transfer Case fluid change.
-Everything went really smooth on this one, I put in 2 quarts of Mobile 1 synthetic and of course it is Mercon V substitue. This project only took about an hour and most of the time was in draining and re-filling.
Fuel Filter Change.
-Should have only been a ten minute project but there were issues. I got the flex fuel filter because that's what my truck is; not the right filter though. I ended up getting the SOHC 5.4L filter and that was the right one. I also had to go back down to Autozone and pick up a 5/16 fuel line tool because the one I had bought previously was too big.
Transmission fluid Change:
-This should have been another easy one since all I was doing was dropping the pan, replacing the filter, cleaning the magnet, removing the cherry, and re-filling. I do not have the drain or fill plug on mine which was a surprise since my owners manual said that I would have one (kind of a pain when checking fluid levels). The pain drain and filter change went really well. I added 3 quarts through the dip stick hole, and checked (no sign of cherry juice). Added another quart and no sign, the 5th one showed a little cherry juice on the bottom of the stick so I added a little less than half another quart. We are up to 5.5 quarts now. Everytime that I checked I would run the truck whiel checking to make sure that the fluid was staying warm. I went for a drive this afternoon and the truck started shaking so I knew something was wrong. I checked the levels at the pizza place and it was waaaaay over the high mark.
I drove home, cracked the pan and eventually got the fluid levels back down in the hash marks of the stick. Took it for a test drive and everything seems to be back to normal.. What a pain and it always amazes me home I can seem to screw up the simple stuff and yet complex things like a lift kit or ball joints seem to go pretty swimmingly. Please use these notes when attempting these projects in the future.
sounds like a great weekend to me!
my truck has sitting since like wenesday because i'm working on changing out my dash and console. it shouldn't be that long of a process but i haven't had a day off so ive been working an hour here and another one there. hopefully tomorrow i will be fully finished!
my truck has sitting since like wenesday because i'm working on changing out my dash and console. it shouldn't be that long of a process but i haven't had a day off so ive been working an hour here and another one there. hopefully tomorrow i will be fully finished!
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Joined: Dec 2004
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From: Soldotna Alaska
I did the same a cpl months ago. Last weekend I spent replacing most of front suspension and steering components. I replaced lower ball joints, upper control arms. IWE's and tie rod ends and my bloody knuckles show it. Nothing was really bad except for my lower ball joints but since you have to take everything apart to get to those I said what the hell, put new greasable moog components in. I was going to replace the hubs and rotors but they are still good.
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Joined: May 2008
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From: washington
Did the same thing last month with my front end. I was surprised how easy everything went back in but yea some of those ball joints stripped and I ended up just smashing things out of the receivers. Feels nice to not have to worry about it for another 50K. I also used MOOG and after freezing the ball joints they went right in.
